The thing I don't like about this metric system is that all the units sound alike! I'll never mix a foot with a mile! But then there's millimeters, centimeters, meters, kilometers, kilograms, milligrams, and all sorts of other weird stuff... too easy to mix things up, even if it is all base-ten-ish.
If we ever went base-ten, I'd still want to keep the old names because they're impossible to mix up.
I am ready to succumb to the rest of the world and go metric. I do find it ammusing that we are among the ranks of countries like Myanmar and Liberia that are the staunch opposers to converting to metric.
I know the first couple of metric prefixes, and all the of the that are involved in engineering notation up to terra and down to pico. The thing I have trouble with is the conversions, except for smaller scale length.
You have trouble converting within a metric scale? Like going from kilo to centi? I love both systems, I know US standard from oz. up to a hogshead, oz up to a ton, and a line to a league.
It's a bit difficult with measurements in the UK, since under EU law we have to use metric as well as our own system of imperial. Thus you're taught both, but you invariably end up preferring one over the other, and forget a fair bit of the less preferred one.
Yep, exactly that. Britain has always been imperial, but since the EU, we've been adopting metric more and more. It's illegal to display the weight of something in just imperial, it has to be in metric too.
Plus there is also the fact that we mix everything so much here. Like if it's cold, we generally use Celsius, but it's really hot, we use Fahrenheit. For liquids most people use metric, that is except for alcohol and milk, which we use pints to measure. For measuring length and height and such most people use imperial. For distances we use miles, but most cars now have KPH and MPH on them. We also mix the weight system up. Most consumer products are in metric, but loose stuff, such as vegetables are still in imperial and for human weight we usually use imperial.
BAGHDAD - The flakes melted quickly. But the smiles, wonder and excited story-swapping went on throughout the day: It snowed in Baghdad.
The morning flurry Friday was the first in memory in the heart of the Iraqi capital. Perhaps more significant, however, was the rare ripple of delight through a city snarled by army checkpoints, divided by concrete walls and ravaged by sectarian killings.
"For the first time in my life I saw a snow-rain like this falling in Baghdad," said Mohammed Abdul-Hussein, a 63-year-old retiree from the New Baghdad area.
"When I was young, I heard from my father that such rain had fallen in the early '40s on the outskirts of northern Baghdad," Abdul-Hussein said, referring to snow as a type of rain. "But snow falling in Baghdad in such a magnificent scene was beyond my imagination."
After weathering nearly five years of war, Baghdad residents thought they'd pretty much seen it all. But as muezzins were calling the faithful to prayer, the people here awoke to something certifiably new.
Snow is common in the mountainous Kurdish areas of northern Iraq, but residents of the capital and surrounding areas could remember just hail. And that, only very occasionally.
Summer temperatures in Baghdad are routinely a sweltering 120 degrees and winters generally mild.
But this week has been unusually cold and blustery, with overnight temperatures more than 10 degrees below normal. On Thursday morning, the thermometer hovered around freezing after a low of 27, and the Baghdad airport closed because of low visibility.
"I asked my mother, who is 80, whether she'd ever seen snow in Iraq before, and her answer was no," said Fawzi Karim, a 40-year-old father of five who runs a small restaurant in Hawr Rajab, a village six miles southeast of Baghdad.
"This is so unusual, and I don't know whether or not it's a lesson from God," Karim said.
Some said they'd seen snow only in movies.
Talib Haider, a 19-year-old college student, said "a friend of mine called me at 8 a.m. to wake me up and tell me that the sky is raining snow."
"I rushed quickly to the balcony to see a very beautiful scene," he said. "I tried to film it with my cell phone camera. This scene has really brought me joy. I called my other friends and the morning turned out to be a very happy one in my life."
An Iraqi who works for The Associated Press said he woke his wife and children shortly after 7 a.m. to "have a look at this strange thing." He then called his brother and sister and found them awake, also watching the "cotton-like snow drops covering the trees."
For a couple of hours anyway, a city where mortar shells routinely zoom across the Tigris River to the Green Zone became united as one big White Zone. There were no reports of bloodshed during the snowstorm.
Well, it's snowing lightly where I am located, but it's not too chilly. Actually, it's been quite mild for this time of year. I imagine that would be a neat sight to see snowflakes in Baghdad. Interesting article.
and here I am complaining that theres a cold front coming in, because I was enjoying the 60 degree weather. It really has been quite beautiful lately, even with a lack of wintery weather... I mean, snow's nice to look at and everything, but I always feel really crappy when it gets below 40.
Oh yeah? Well, uh...... if we had a race to see who could freeze to death faster in 40 below weather, I would totally beat you. So HA.
I'm just naturally a cold person... I'll start shivering after drinking a cold drink, or if a fan is blowing on me. I don't even know many people who feel as cold as I do all the time, but even in the summers my toes will remain icy! Good for warm weather, reeeeally uncomfortable in cold weather.
I went skiing for the first time a couple of days ago. It was super awesome fun, even though I'm just now regaining full motion in my limbs and I fear I may have permanent bruises on my thighs.
Since this seems to be the official 'snow updates' thread, it's totally been flurrying all day. It's still a bit too warm for any accumulation, but it's supposed to keep going through the night.
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Warm people around here. I'd be most comfortable at 21-22.
...in America.
I can never remember how many cups are in a quart!
If we ever went base-ten, I'd still want to keep the old names because they're impossible to mix up.
LONG LIVE THE ENGLISH MEASUREMENT UNIT!!!!
It's a bit difficult with measurements in the UK, since under EU law we have to use metric as well as our own system of imperial. Thus you're taught both, but you invariably end up preferring one over the other, and forget a fair bit of the less preferred one.
Plus there is also the fact that we mix everything so much here. Like if it's cold, we generally use Celsius, but it's really hot, we use Fahrenheit. For liquids most people use metric, that is except for alcohol and milk, which we use pints to measure. For measuring length and height and such most people use imperial. For distances we use miles, but most cars now have KPH and MPH on them. We also mix the weight system up. Most consumer products are in metric, but loose stuff, such as vegetables are still in imperial and for human weight we usually use imperial.
Damn, I want a house there- their plastic-bottle-crunching machines are so cool.
EDIT: Try using a metric micrometer or veiner caliper. Your eyes will bleed within ten minutes, guaranteed.
Oh wait.
at least school got cancelled.
Yay Texas heat!
On the plus side, that doesn't happen too often around here, especially in recent years.
I'm just naturally a cold person... I'll start shivering after drinking a cold drink, or if a fan is blowing on me. I don't even know many people who feel as cold as I do all the time, but even in the summers my toes will remain icy! Good for warm weather, reeeeally uncomfortable in cold weather.
It's not November yet!